As evidenced in NJBIA’s 67th annual Business Outlook Survey, tariffs have been costly for many New Jersey businesses.
But now there’s legislation moving through the Statehouse that will add great burdens to many employers, in addition to the costs of tariffs.
The Tariff Transparency Act requires retailers with more than $500,000 in annual revenue to display the portion of a product’s cost that is derived from tariffs.
While sponsor Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-20) said bill A-5922 will amount to just a “simple disclosure” for businesses, NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer Christopher Emigholz said it will be anything but.
“Look, we know tariffs have been difficult for our job creators, and we understand the intent of this bill,” said Emigholz. “But at the end of the day, this is a very unrealistic and unworkable bill that is extremely burdensome for business.
“There is no other state in the nation seeking to place such a burden on its businesses. So, it becomes yet another mandate that makes it harder to business in New Jersey.”
Worse for New Jersey’s job creators, they can be fined $500 for each sale a retailer makes without itemizing the tariff costs, or if the tariff breakdown is not accurate.
“Given the uncertainty and complexity surrounding tariffs, an unintentional error could easily be made,” Emigholz said.
Emigholz said the unworkability of the bill is rooted in the depth of a supply chain and all of the components that go into pricing a particular product.
“As an example, you have indirect facility costs, shipping costs and healthcare costs that all could be impacted by tariffs,” Emigholz said. “Some of those costs are passed on down through the supply chain in whole, some in part and some are absorbed by the landlord or shipper or healthcare provider.
“More directly, products have complicated supply chains with tariffs impacting pieces in different ways with some passing down all extra costs and some absorbing some of the added costs.
“These complicated pricing decisions are made every day in a free market, and the final retailer at the end has no way of exactly knowing what costs were from tariffs, what costs came from inflation, tax increases, energy cost increases, wage increases, rent increases or legal costs.
“While the intent here may be simple, what is factored into the cost of a retail item is often quite complicated,” Emigholz said.
NJBIA has been critical of tariffs levied on businesses by the Trump administration in 2025, despite its mantra of exchanging short-term pain for long-term gain.
In NJBIA’s Business Outlook Survey, 49% of respondents said tariffs impacted their supply chains in 2025.
Of those impacted, 88% said they faced increased prices from their supply chains.
Also, of those impacted by tariffs, 36% said they sourced products from different suppliers; 23% said they reduced or lowered the quality of their inventory.
The Tariff Transparency Act advanced in the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on Thursday, with Assemblyman Mike Inganamort (R-24) the lone “no” vote.
But not before Inganamort offered an amendment, perhaps with tongue planted firmly in cheek, that would require the state of New Jersey to provide to each business the amount every tax, fee and regulation is costing businesses, to be advertised by the businesses annually.
The information, he said, would include each individual cost.
“If the cost of one tax is important, then the cost of all taxes are important,” Inganamort said in a statement. “Except the onus should not be on the businesses paying those costs, it should be on the government imposing them.
“The advertisement would read, “OUR PRICES WOULD BE LOWER IF THE STATE DID NOT CHARGE US $[TOTAL AMOUNT]. SEE HOW IT ALL ADDS UP: [LIST OF EVERY TAX, FEE AND REGULATORY COST].”
